If At First You Don't Succeed
by Lingren
Summary: Jack's in trouble again...in more ways than one.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi there! Well, as promised here is the follow on from my last story as mentioned below. It was written about a month or so after that one so it needs a lot of tweaking and editing too. Not too much though or it won't be the same story!_

_Thank you all so much for your super reviews for the last story. I really do appreciate your efforts in sending them. I only hope you will like this one as much as the last. Thanks – Hugz to all you guys! _

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

Category: Drama, Hurt/Comfort.

Spoilers: Shades of Grey, Desperate Measures, 48 Hours.

Season: 5...after 48 Hours, but before Meridian.

Warnings: Little bit of descriptive gore.

Summary: Jack's in trouble again...in more ways than one.

Disclaimer: Don't own them, not getting paid for this. No harm meant, just having a bit of fun with the characters.

A/N: As the title suggests, it is meant to be a sequel to, and set several months after - '**Have A Nice Day Jack**!' but can be read as a stand alone story.

"If At First You Don't Succeed..." 

by Lingren.

Chapter 1 – Black Ops Anyone?

General Hammond and SG-1 were seated in the briefing room discussing the team's forthcoming mission to P8Z 494. Their task was to search for a missing Tok'ra operative who was working undercover and had failed to report back to the Tok'ra high council, at the allotted times. Nobody had any idea what had happened to him and there was no-one else available to go look for him. So, as was usual, they had requested the help of the SGC, specifically from SG-1, because the missing person was none other than Selmak. In other words, Jacob, Major Sam Carter's father, was the missing person in question.

"SG-1," General Hammond began to wind down his orders. "I needn't remind you that P8Z 494 is a Goa'uld run planet, so it's guaranteed you'll probably run into Jaffa patrols or hostile natives. That's why I'm putting SG-4 on standby to back you up on this one, should you need any assistance. Any further questions? Colonel?"

Jack glanced up and made eye contact with his CO. He knew full well he consequences if the Goa'uld had captured the retired General.

"Nothing Sir. Perfectly clear on this one."

Hammond gave him a tiny nod in understanding. Jack O'Neill, ex-black ops wouldn't hesitate in completing his assignment however unpleasant or difficult it would be. If there was no way to rescue the Tok'ra, then he had his orders to destroy any evidence that would lead to an invasion of Earth. It was his given duty.

Hammond could see that his junior officer knew his given duty, knowing it wasn't going to be easy and that Jack wasn't exactly happy about it but he would follow it through. Now he looked around the table and was satisfied that they knew their job when everyone shook their heads in response to his question.

This was an exceedingly important mission for them, as it involved Sam's father, so they had studied the relevant paperwork on it beforehand and knew exactly what was expected from each of them.

"I know this is going to be a tough one especially for you, Major, are you sure you are going to be okay with it?"

'Yes Sir...I'm fine.' She sounded confident, but Jack could see she was terribly worried about what had become of her father.

There were times when Jack really hated his job. This time particularly as it involved Jacob. He liked Jacob and even tolerated the snake, Selmak to a certain degree, though he would never trust the other Tok'ra; not in a million years.

"Okay people. Because of the time differences between the planet and ours, you will be ready to leave at 21.00 hours tonight. Stumbling around on an unknown planet in the dark is not an option here people, the terrain is unstable. I want everyone to be at their best, so please..." and here he looked directly at Jack in particular, "...stay here on the base. You have five hours in which to get some rest before you ship out. It's going to be a long night, or rather, day out there otherwise. This is Jacob, we're talking about, out there so I don't want to risk anybody being late back and missing this opportunity, or being too tired to accomplish this task. Is that understood?"

A chorus of "Yes Sirs," and "Yes General Hammond," echoed round the room.

"Good. I'll see you folks later. Dismissed."

OoOoOoOoO

Jack was instantly awake, the minute his cell phone rang. He grabbed it off the bedside table and flipped the cover back, noting as he turned towards the bedside table clock, that he had been dozing, on and off, for almost 2 hours. He really could have done with more sleep, but such were the vagaries of military life.

"O'Neill," he stated, reluctantly sitting up and placing his feet onto the floor to lean an elbow on them to scrub the sleep from his face with his free hand.

"Jack...?" the voice began but was interrupted by an irate - and not so sleepy now - Colonel.

"Maybourne? What the hell...?"

"Jack! Just listen okay... I don't have time for a long conversation!" he snapped, rushing his words out.

"Okay," Jack sighed, wondering what the disgraced Colonel wanted now of all times. "I'm listening!"

"Meet me in Donovan's Clearing, about a mile east of Fred's Easy-Play diner, on the left. In about a half hour."

"Look, Harry, I'd love to meet you in the woods, really I would, but I've all ready got a date for tonight."

"Very funny Jack! No kiddin', this is really important. Matter of life and death stuff. I just can't tell you over the phone. It has something to do with Simmons. Oh and by the way, I seem to have picked up a couple of strays, so come prepared."

"Harry, as much as I would love to hear about those morons that run the NID. I told you, I can't..."

"Jack, you've got to, this is a tough one. You'll be glad you came afterwards, I promise. So, **please**...just do me a favour for once. Take a step out of character and come help me on this one, huh?"

"Harry, like I already said, I..." The line had suddenly gone dead. "Harry? Harry! Goddammit!"

For a few moments in sheer disbelief, Jack studied the phone in his hand, before folding it back up and slipping it into his pants pocket. He continued to sit there on the edge of the bed while he contemplated Harry's words. The guy did sound like he was in trouble, and if it concerned Simmons then it would be. That man was definitely bad news. He scrubbed both his hands though his hair. "Damn you Harry! I suppose I'd better go rescue your ass, 'cos sure as hell no-one else is gonna do it," Jack cursed to the silent room. Looking at the clock again he realised he had just under 3 hours left to find the man and get him somewhere safe, and then discover what all this so-called mystery was about. And that was before he was due to leave on the mission.

He cursed Harry again and again with every garment he put on. He checked out his personal weapon, and managed to secure himself a Kevlar jacket for extra protection, just in case. There was no way he was going to take any risks out there, and hoped to God that the General didn't catch him sneaking out of the base this close to the mission.

"God! This had better be worth it Harry, or it'll be "Airman O'Neill" and probably an order for his permanent retirement, from this time forth," he muttered to himself as he stood impatiently by the elevator doors. There were a few anxious moments of waiting for the car to arrive, before he entered, hoping against hope that no-one else wanted to use it and thanking god that most of the civilian staff had gone home by now. Finally after what seemed like hours to Jack, it deposited him at the top of the mountain. Using his esteemed rank and his hard-ass reputation, to intimidate the very young, and very green, security guard on duty, he managed to sign out without revealing his weapon. Then he climbed into his truck, put his foot down and headed for the secret rendezvous.

Jack slowed his truck down as he approached the hidden turning to Donovan's Clearing, and as he turned the wheel to leave the relatively deserted road, he spotted Maybourne's weaselly figure in his headlights, leaning casually against the hood of a car; hired or stolen, Jack didn't want to know, but at least the guy was here. He pulled up, killed the engine and the lights, then stepped out, closing the door quietly, before turning to face the fugitive.

"Jack glad you could make it." Harry walked the few steps over to meet Jack. They stood a few yards from the truck, facing each other.

"Okay Harry, I'm here, so what's with the cloak and dagger stuff? I've got a mission in..." Jack checked his watch and sucked in a sigh of impatience. "...just over 2 hours time, and this had better be worth it, because if I'm late back for that mission Harry, Hammond is so gonna have my hide."

TBC


	2. Dammit Harry!

_So glad you all seem to be eager to read this. I only hope it lives up to your expectations._

_Thanks for all your great reviews again. It does me a world of good and helps make me hurry up with the editing of the next chapter. _

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"Okay Harry, I'm here, so what's with the cloak and dagger stuff? I've got a mission in..." Jack checked his watch and sucked in a sigh of impatience. "...just over 2 hours time, and this had better be worth it, because if I'm late back for that mission Harry, Hammond is so gonna have my hide."

Chapter 2 – Dammit Harry!

"Sorry Jack," Maybourne shrugged, and Jack knew without a doubt Harry wasn't as sorry as he was going to be when he got back to the base if he was late. "I did warn you I'd picked up a couple of strays. But, don't worry, I lost them a while back."

"You sure you lost them?" Jack narrowed his eyes at Harry but the suspicious glare was lost in the darkness of the evening.

"Jack!" Harry cried indignantly. "Trust me. I lost them!"

Jack thought that was a good one...him trust Harry Maybourne? Yeah right. He'd rather trust a snake...well, on second thoughts, maybe not.

"I was conducting a little research on the web and thought you would like to know what I discovered."

Jack looked at his watch again and groaned with frustration. Yes, he wanted to know, but he wished Harry would just spit it out. Time was a wastin'.

"And? So?"

"Okay, okay. There's something bid going down and I gotta warn you what Simmons is planning..." There was a soft phut, phut and Harry cried out "Aargh..." His face puckered in agony and he slumped forwards into Jack, already losing consciousness, as blood ran from two bullet wounds somewhere on his back.

Jack's reflexes were fast enough to catch Harry before he fell to the ground, but by doing so, it had also put him at a disadvantage. Before he had time to react, he felt the agony of a bullet as it tore through his right arm, quickly followed by another, this time high up near his shoulder. Instantly he felt a third and fourth bullet punch into him, this time to his chest. Although thankful that his kevlar jacket took the full force, it still made him stagger and fly backwards.

It felt like someone had smashed into his chest with a sledgehammer which completely knocked the breath out of him. For a short time he struggled to stay on his feet, but he wasn't so lucky with the next bullet, as it found it's way well below the bottom of the vest, catching him deep into his left thigh. The burning agony as that bullet tore into his flesh yet again, spun him round, and he crashed sideways to the ground heavily, finally losing the battle to stay alert as the inky blackness claimed his consciousness. The blood from his wounded arm, on which he now lay face down across, soaked the front of his jacket.

A lone figure emerged from the bushes and walked over to his fallen victims. Looking down at Maybourne he sneered at the blood covered inert body and kicked it, pleased when he got no reaction from the runt.

He then looked over at Jack's still form with a smile. Using his foot, he pushed him over onto his back to see for himself the damage he had inflicted. No-one could have survived that, he thought to himself, satisfied with seeing the blood smeared across the front of Jack's jacket. There were two bloodied and neat bullet holes to the chest.

He laughed cruelly to himself, Simmons' would be well pleased with him, even more so, having got Maybourne and the seemingly indestructible O'Neill. They'd made a complete mess of attempting to kill him before and the stubborn bastard had managed to survive; but not this time. Satisfied that his job was done, he walked back to his battered old Chevy, well hidden some yards away, and drove off quickly, knowing that by the time either of them was found, there would be little left after the critters had taken their fill.

OoOoOoOoO

General Hammond was absolutely furious. His 2IC had disappeared just before a damned important mission that was due to leave in less than 1 hour's time. They had practically turned the whole base upside down before he'd been informed that Jack had apparently left the base a little under 2 hours before.

He'd been trying to ring Jack's home number, and his cell phone. Hell, he'd even sent a couple of men round to Jack's house to see if he was there. Not only was he hopping mad at him, he was also deeply worried about him too. It just wasn't like Colonel O'Neill to go wandering off just before he was due to go off-world, especially a mission which involved the rescue of Jacob.

Jack O'Neill knew exactly where his duty lay, especially with Major Carter under his command. The General didn't know where else to look, and didn't know what to think. He sat in his office and waited rather impatiently for some news of what or where or why the man was AWOL.

He debated giving the mission to SG-4 only, but after much thought, decided against it. The Tok'ra had specifically asked for SG-1, and Jacob really needed their help. There was no way he was going to abandon his old friend out there. He could only sit tight and believe that Jack would show up sometime soon, and hopefully, before it was time they were due to embark. If he didn't show up soon he would be compelled to put Major Carter in charge, and hope to God it didn't put too much of a strain on her. Not that he had any doubts about her ability to oversee the team, but it would be a difficult test of her leadership skills, being so personally involved.

OoOoOoOoO

Meanwhile back in the forest, Jack fought his way back to consciousness. His eyes opened, gradually focusing them on what he could. With a mental sigh of relief, he made out dozens of stars shining in the night sky above him. For one brief moment, he thought he had fallen asleep on his roof. Somewhere where he often spent sleepless nights gazing through his telescope up at the night sky and it brought a slight feeling of comfort to him.

Testing his movements, knowing his knees would be stiff from lying still, he found his legs felt strangely heavy. He tried to move them but a deep agonising pain soon shot through his whole body. It was a very painful and poignant reminder, that he and Harry had been shot down in a hail of bullets. After a moment to collect his thoughts, he mentally assessed his condition before trying to move again.

"Okay... let's see - bullet to the leg. Remember that. Hurt like crazy." He gingerly felt his arm. "Aghh...God...two damn bullets holes. Geez...what am I? A pin cushion! Great...nice going O'Neill - Hammond's so goin' to have your butt for sure after this little excursion." He peered down at his feet, wondering why, apart from the bullet wound that was, that his legs felt so immovable, only to find Harry slumped across one of them.

"Guess that explains why I can't move," he groaned. His legs were going numb, but wasn't sure if it was because of Harry's weight or the bullet wound. He propped himself up onto his left elbow and immediately winced in pain at the tenderness in his chest where the bullets had impacted into the vest. Then after a huge and painfully slow manoeuvre he had finally managed to sit up. Holding his breath against the pain, he reached down to touch Harry's neck with his long fingers and surprised himself when he discovered that he was more than glad to find a pulse there, albeit a weak one which barely moved beneath his finger-tips.

Shuffling backwards on his butt, by using his healthy left arm and his good leg, he traversed slowly backwards along the ground. With each movement he made, it sent waves of agony right through him, but he knew he couldn't give up, because to do so would mean that they could both die before anyone found them. So, gritting his teeth, he had to persevere, he was the only one who could get some help for Harry and himself.

He also knew he couldn't take Maybourne to a local hospital, mainly because Harry was still a wanted criminal, and bullet wounds caused far too many questions to be asked. Therefore the SGC was their only hope.

After managing to get his injured leg free, he rested his back against the wheel of his truck in order to catch his breath. He reached into his pocket, took a neatly folded handkerchief out, folded it corner wise and wrapped it round his leg tight, trying to do something to stop the bleeding. He then withdrew his cell phone, and pressed the speed dial for General Hammond's number.

OoOoOoOoO

It was a very frustrated, angry and worried General Hammond that glanced at his watch again and reached for the phone to alert SG-1 concerning the problem of their missing CO. However, as his hand touched it, it rang loudly, startling him from his thoughts. He picked up the phone, wondering if this was Jack at last, and hoping the man had a damn good excuse for his being AWOL.

"Hammond!" the General barked into the phone.

"Ah...General…"

"Colonel O'Neill? Where the hell are you? I gave you a direct order to stay on this base! We've been trying to get hold of you for the past hour!"

"Yeah. I'm sorry about that General. Um...something came up," Jack sighed with regret, but Hammond was beginning to feel the first inkling that something was very wrong. Jack actually sounded weak. "I don't have much time Sir. I need to ask you a favour."

"Jack..." Hammond tried to stay calm, thinking that by using the Colonel's forename, it might prompt Jack to explain things a little better. "...your mission is less than a half hour away."

"I know that sir, and I'm truly sorry, but I don't think I'm going to be able to make the mission after all."

"Why in God's name...?"

"I'm with Maybourne Sir."

"What? Colonel Maybourne? Jack, what the hell...?"

Jack quickly interrupted him.

"He's been shot, Sir. Twice in the back."

"What?"

"Sir, he needs urgent medical attention or he'll die. I can't take him to the local hospital because he's a wanted man. General, I want to bring him into the SGC, so that Doc. Fraiser patch him up."

"Colonel, do you know what your asking?"

"Yes Sir, I do," Jack sighed heavily and couldn't help the tiny grunt of pain escape from his lips, hoping that the General hadn't heard it. "Without him we'd never have gotten Carter back that time, or catch that sonovabitch Simmons and put him away."

He was growing weaker, tiring fast. The blood loss was making him drowsy. He had to force himself to move every so often, so that the pain would wake him up again. He gasped, catching his lip between his teeth to stop himself from crying out. The General heard a slight moan and was instantly alerted.

"Colonel? Jack, are you hurt?"

"it's nothing I can't handle Sir," he said wincing, avoiding the truth.

"Stay where you are and I'll sent an ambulance to get you both."

"Negative Sir. Whoever did this might still be lurking out there somewhere. No sense risking anyone else, sir. I'll be fine!"

Liar he admonished himself. He could happily sit back and close his eyes and let the blackness wash over him again. But - he wasn't going to take the risk of anyone else getting hurt, especially because of Maybourne or himself, after all **he** wasn't even supposed to be there in the first place.

"Alright son, bring him here. I just hope you know what you're doing, Jack. What's your ETA?"

"Meet me topside in 'bout a half hour. Be waiting with a med. team Sir."

"Will do, Jack. Just go careful."

"Yes sir."

Jack snapped the phone shut and put it away, and looked down at his silent partner. "Okay Harry, that was the easy part." he murmured softly knowing all too well that Harry couldn't hear him, but not giving a damn. "Yeah. All I have to do is move. I mean how difficult can it be? I do it all the time. Okay, so I don't usually carry bullets around unless they're inside my gun; not in me."

He somehow managed to cling to the side of his truck and with difficulty, heaved himself upright. "So far so good, Harry" Holding onto the side of the truck so he didn't end up back on his butt if his leg gave way, he inched his way round to the back and opened up the tail board. Now all he had to do, was get Harry in there. "Yeah, easier said than done Jack."

Drawing a deep breath he sort of staggered hopped over to his fallen comrade. Forcing himself to use his injured arm, he hauled up the unconscious Harry by locking his hands underneath and then oh so slowly and very painfully, dragged him over towards the truck.

Eventually, with much panting and grunting, he hoisted him up and laid him down on the truck's flat bed, covering him with a spare tarpaulin to hide him and offer him at least some warmth. Fastening the flap back into place, Jack shuffled round to the cab and stood breathing heavily for a minute before painfully climbing up into his seat. He was exhausted. He checked his watch again and muttered wretchedly. "Half an hour I told the General, and it's taken me that long just to get this far. Crap!"

His arm was now hurting like the very devil, and he could feel the blood running down inside his jacket sleeve which was already soaked through. Despite his makeshift bandage, his leg was bleeding steadily too, soaking through his pant leg onto the seat beneath him. Ignoring it all, he started up and pulled out onto the deserted road, heading back towards Cheyenne Mountain. Hoping to God, that he would be able to last long enough to make it there before he passed out through loss of blood.

TBC


	3. AWOL

_Hi there, thanks as always for those wonderful reviews. Glad you all seem to be intrigued by this. Here's the next chapter for you to enjoy._

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

His arm was now hurting like the very devil, and he could feel the blood running down inside his jacket sleeve which was already soaked through. Despite his makeshift bandage, his leg was bleeding steadily too, soaking through his pant leg onto the seat beneath him. Ignoring it all, he started up and pulled out onto the deserted road, heading back towards Cheyenne Mountain. Hoping to God, that he would be able to last long enough to make it there before he passed out through loss of blood.

Chapter 3 – AWOL

Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c met up in the briefing room with just a half hour to go before the planned mission was due to start. The had all been summoned by General Hammond, and the speculation about Jack being AWOL had fuelled many rumours. Now as they sat round the table, they were wondering what the General was going to say about the up and coming mission. On entering the briefing room, the General was all brusque and business like and didn't look particularly happy to Sam's way of thinking. She moved to rise to her feet, but Hammond was quick to indicated that they stay where they were.

"I'm sure by now you have learned that Colonel O'Neill is AWOL, and I have to say that for whatever reason behind his absence that you won't believe everything you may have heard. Therefore, I have to tell you that seeing as the Colonel will not be joining you for the mission to P8Z 494, I'm putting Major Carter in charge." The tension he felt made his voice sound more brisk than he meant it to be, but, damn the man, he was actually worried about his often wilful 2IC. "Are there any questions or problems with this decision?"

Sam grimaced, torn between being flattered that the General trusted her with this important mission – despite the fact that it was her father that was missing - and worried because of the Colonel's unexplained and unexpected absence. She couldn't help but wonder just what could have happened to make him go AWOL, and why the General seemed so disturbed by it. There was something 'fishy' about the whole thing. It smacked of covert ops again.

"Major Carter?" Hammond's voice brought her out of her ruminations.

"Ah, no Sir. No problem," Sam answered quickly.

"Good. Your mission is due so I suggest you finish getting geared up. Dismissed."

The three members of SG-1, looked at each other, deeply worried about Jack, and Daniel took it upon himself as spokesperson to face the General. Sam and Teal'c dutifully followed him as he entered the General's office to confront him.

"Doctor Jackson. Is there something else?" Hammond then noted that the other two had entered the room too and instantly knew why.

"Ah...actually yes, General, there is. Could you explain exactly why it is that Jack won't be coming on the mission?"

"I'm sorry son, but he was called away urgently."

"Sir..." Sam interrupted at this point. "Is this another sting operation that no-one's telling us about?"

Hammond knew what she wasn't saying but in all honesty he really couldn't explain Jack's absence without consulting with him first. If it was something that Jack had undertaken without his knowledge then there would have to be a damn good reason for him to be excluded from those in the know.

"Not precisely Major. No."

"Please explain the meaning of...'Not precisely', General Hammond?" Teal'c asked, unsure why they were being treated this way, especially after the previous NID fiasco.

The General sighed, and sitting back heavily in his chair, he looked up into three very worried faces. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep Jack's supposedly 'indiscretion' a secret from his team, he also knew they wouldn't be able to accomplish their mission successfully if they were constantly worrying about Jack all the time.

"You all know that Colonel O'Neill went missing from this facility about two hours before this mission was due to begin, well, it now appears he went off on a little mercy mission of his own, and without my prior knowledge. He is on his way back here right now, but probably won't return until after you have left. It's a very delicate subject and is on a 'need to know' basis only, so I'm not at liberty to divulge anything else at this moment."

"And he didn't think he could trust us enough to tell us...again!"

"Doctor Jackson, Major Carter, Teal'c... I don't think this time it was a matter of not trusting you, but this was one mission where Colonel O'Neill was completely on his own. I'm as much in the dark on this one as you people are."

"How could that be, Sir?"

"I only found out about it myself, just a short while ago, when the Colonel phoned and informed me he wouldn't be back in time to lead the mission. I don't know any details other than he was bringing an 'undercover agent', shall we say, back with him who is in need of medical care." Hammond deliberately kept quiet about the nagging fact that Jack was probably injured too.

"Well at least we know that he is okay, and that he'll be back here soon. Thank you for confiding in us General. At least we'll be able to go through to P8Z 494, without worrying about him so much now."

"That's what I figured too, son. Major are you sure you're up to taking on this mission?"

"Yes Sir. I'm fine with it."

"Good. I have every confidence in you. It's time you should all get yourselves ready to go. And God speed out there. I'm sure Jacob will be relieved to see you all."

"Yes sir. Thank you Sir."

OoOoOoOoO

Janet, and her team had been waiting nervously for the last 30 minutes now. It wasn't a particularly warm evening, and the young nurses with her were shivering slightly. Janet didn't know if it was because they were cold or because they were nervously awaiting their VIP patient. She hated this waiting too, never quite knowing what to expect. She had prepared as much as she could without giving away who they were about to receive for treatment, and any minute now she expected to see Jack's truck come through the gates at the entrance to the mountain complex.

OoOoOoOoO

In the meantime, Jack was struggling to stay compos mentis as he drove along the tricky mountain road. He'd already opened the window wide to get plenty of chilly air blowing on him to try keeping himself alert but it was getting harder to concentrate now. The only problem with the open window was that he was shivering quite violently, and knew that he was most likely going onto shock due to his untreated wounds.

Strangely, he quite hoped that Harry was still with them, but he couldn't the time to keep stopping just to check on him. His driving was getting more and more erratic, as he grew weaker. So far it had been sheer luck that he hadn't met any cops out here; 'cos boy, would they have a field day. Soon the lights of the compound came into view and he whispered a silent thank you as he slowed down to the approach the - open gates? He found he didn't even have to stop, they'd waved him straight through on what could only be the General's orders.

OoOoOoOoO

General Hammond was by now deeply worried about his missing man. He'd long been expecting a call from the gate to say that Jack had arrived, but here he was nearly an hour after his phone conversation with the Colonel and there was still no sign of him. He'd been in the control room to see SG-1 depart on their mission some time ago. The suspense of not knowing what was happening was getting too much and he was about to ring the gate when he received that long awaited call.

OoOoOoOoO

Jack parked his truck as close to the mountain entrance as he could and took a deep but pain-filled breath, glad that the nightmare drive was finally over, and that now he could relax and let Doc. Fraiser take over. He saw her approach with her team in tow, but jumped slightly when she appeared at his open window, wondering if he'd let his consciousness slip for a brief moment.

Janet found him with his head resting in his left hand, elbow propped on the steering wheel. When he suddenly realised she was there, he flinched and pointed over his shoulder to the back of the truck.

"He's in the back Doc., under the tarp. That's if he's still with us."

"Don't worry Colonel we'll take it from here. Are you okay, sir?"

"I can wait. See to him first, he was in a bad way."

She patted his upper arm and walked quickly to the back of the truck, and set her team to work.

The lighting around the compound had failed to penetrate the interior of the truck, casting deep shadows in the darkness of the cab which hidden Jack's ashen face and disguised his blood soaked jacket and pants.

It was at this point that General Hammond arrived and stood by for a moment to watch as they lifted a deathly pale Maybourne onto the gurney. Janet quickly assessed his condition and updated the General as she sent her team scurrying back to the base infirmary.

Hammond then made his way round to the driver's door so that he could talk to Jack. He was going to have to have one very serious conversation with him about his untimely absence without leave, and he didn't give a damn on whose orders Jack had been acting under.

Looking in at the window, he saw Jack now leaning back against his seat; his head back and slightly tilted upwards, and his eyes closed. Hammond thought looked really tired, and in a reluctant way, he actually felt sorry for the Colonel. The General lightly shook Jack's shoulder, but there was no response to the touch.

"Colonel!" he called softly, but still there was no reaction. "Jack!" he called and shook him a little harder. Jack's head lolled to one side then forward, and the General fought down a sudden urge to panic, as he spotted the blood covering the front of his 2IC's Jacket. "Doctor Fraiser!" he called, knowing that Jack was also in need of urgent medical assistance.

Giving last minute instructions to her most senior nurse, telling her that Dr. Warner would have to operate a.s.a.p., she quickly hurried back to the front of the truck, at the General's urgent call.

Seeing the General standing at the side of the truck and holding Jack's shoulder steady to stop him falling forwards, she realised that Jack must have been more injured than he'd obviously let on.

"Doctor, I believe the Colonel needs your immediate attention. He's unconscious. I understood that he'd been hurt too, but not this badly." he said pointing to the blood he had spotted down the front of Jack's jacket.

Janet ran round to the other side and opened the passenger door to climb up onto the seat next to Jack. Switching on the interior light, she got her first glimpse of the damage and gasped at the desperate sight.

"General, sir, I need another gurney and team here, fast."

Jack was pale and a fine sheen of sweat covered his top lip and brow. She felt for a pulse and found it to be weak and thready, his skin felt cool and clammy. "He's going into shock, and we need to act now."

Without another word the General barked instructions to the nearest guard, who radioed the duty desk to call the infirmary back up here urgently.

There was blood soaking Jack's pants leg, and blood had completely soaked his sleeve, and was now trickling down his right arm below his jacket cuff to drip onto the floor of the cab. The General watched nervously, as Janet quickly pulled open the blood soaked jacket as carefully as she could. They then saw he was actually wearing a kevlar vest which had stopped him from being killed outright. They both let out the breaths which they had unconsciously been holding.

"So, what is your diagnosis Doctor?"

Janet had gone over him as much as she could reach at least, but she didn't think there had been any other bullet wounds than those she had seen.

"He has one, no two bullet wounds to his upper right arm and shoulder, and from what I can see he has another one to his left thigh. He's lost a great deal of blood which is why he's going into shock, and he's slightly warm so I suspect he has a fever too." Janet paused for a moment in amazement. "I don't know how he managed to stay awake for so long sir, let alone drive all the way back here, from wherever he was."

Yet again General Hammond was astounded by the sheer determination of the man at hearing this news. He'd read about it in reports, and had heard SG-1 talk of Jack's strength of mind to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles on a mission, but now he was witnessing it at first hand. Jack had gotten Maybourne back to the base before giving in to his own wounds.

"Colonel O'Neill led me to believe that he was only slightly wounded. I was going to have a team sent out to fetch them both back here, but he refused any help, saying it was far too risky."

"And he told me to see to Maybourne first, and that he could wait."

Janet's admiration, already deeply ingrained, for the Colonel went up several more notches. He had conquered his own pain and suffering in order to get help for a person, who, practically everyone in the SGC knew he just did not like. It was so very typical of him to put others needs before his own, no matter who they were or what the circumstances.

TBC


	4. Questions Without Answers

_Wow, such a great response...thank you to everyone who sent in those super reviews. Keep them coming, pretty please, because I so need that little extra boost to help me get on with writing my very new story. If you all shout loud enough it will make me write faster! LOL!_

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

Janet's admiration, already deeply ingrained, for the Colonel went up several more notches. He had conquered his own pain and suffering in order to get help for a person, who, practically everyone in the SGC knew he just did not like. It was so very typical of him to put others needs before his own, no matter who they were or what the circumstances.

Chapter 4 – Questions Without Answers

Consciousness came back slowly. Familiar smells and soft sounds filled his ears. Now he knew without a doubt that he was in the infirmary again. 'Ow! Crap, what did I do this time?' he puzzled, trying to open his eyes.

Janet was busy checking his vitals again when she saw a deep frown crease his brow, and then his eyelids fluttered and opened. She waited a moment for him to focus his eyes properly before she spoke.

"Good to see you've decided to join us at last Colonel."

He turned his head towards the familiar voice.

"Doc?"

Her face swam slightly and he had to blink several times to clear his fuzzy vision.

"Who else were you expecting Colonel?"

"What? How'd I get here?" he asked weakly. "Where's my team? Did they get back okay?" he questioned, on noticing the empty chair, and feeling strangely alone but couldn't grasp the reason why that was so.

"Don't you remember what happened Colonel? You drove your truck back here. Colonel Maybourne was in the back, barely alive, but he's made it so far." He still looked bewildered so Janet gave him a little more, understanding what was bothering him. "You were both wounded sir. And SG-1 went on the mission without you."

He closed his eyes for a couple of minutes trying to recall why and how they had been wounded. And how the heck could he have forgotten all about the damn mission?

When he opened his eyes again, Janet was gone from his side, and he wondered if he'd been dreaming it all.

He turned his head slightly and saw her busy several beds away tending to another patient. So, where was everybody? Normally one of his team would be sitting with him when he awoke after he'd been injured, but the chair beside the bed was empty, and he couldn't understand why that was – but hadn't he asked that before. He felt himself slipping away again, but mentally pushed the need to sleep away.

"Doc," he called, surprised at how feeble his voice actually sounded.

Janet looked up and smiled over at him.

"I'll be with you in a minute Colonel."

She finished checking the other soldier's vitals and made her way over to him.

"Hi there. Feeling more like staying awake are we?"

"I thought I was awake? I was talking to you just a minute ago," Jack muttered in confusion, which deepened when Janet grinned.

"Not for a while now Colonel. You woke up about two hours ago and went back to sleep again almost straight away." She lifted his head slightly and held a straw against his mouth for him to sip the water she offered. His fever had dropped slightly and she was glad he was responding well to the antibiotics. "How are you feeling now?"

"Groggy...em...hot, it's hot. Hurts...all over. Wha'd I do this time?"

"You got yourself shot Colonel, and you have a slight fever too because you developed a bit of an infection from all that dirt you picked up off the ground. You had a couple of bullets in your right arm and one high up in your left thigh. You're lucky to be here at all. If it wasn't for that Kevlar vest you wore..." She let off, knowing she didn't need to tell him the rest, and adjusted the IV which released more pain medication into him to make him more comfortable.

His eyes now widened as he recalled the previous events with startling clarity.

"Maybourne? Is he okay?" He wasn't sure if he'd asked before, but it still wouldn't hurt to find out the latest news.

"I've placed him in the isolation ward at the moment. That way nobody except a few of my staff need see him. He's still with us...for now anyway...thanks to you."

"Not my doin' Doc. That was Harry...he forewarned me to take precautions, so I wore the vest. Why the hell didn't he get hold of one?" It was really a rhetorical question but it raised many others in his mind.

"The wearing of that vest, Colonel, saved your life because it stopped two more bullets," Janet continued as if he hadn't spoken. "They were directly over your heart, which is why you have massive bruising there from the impacts and why you're feeling very sore."

"Where's Carter or Daniel, Teal'c?"

If Janet didn't know any better, she could quite easily grow tired of that question, but knowing her patient and her oath as a medic, she held onto her slight frustration and replied as if he hadn't mentioned them before.

"They went on the mission Sir. General Hammond put Major Carter in command in your stead. They're not due back yet."

"Oh! Yeah. Kinda lost track of the time." He waited for Janet to stop fussing with his bandages before he added. " You know, I told them last time that I wanted sleeves on my vest, but they never listened."

Janet Fraiser had to smile at his comment as she remembered back to the last time he had been shot. It was when Sam had been kidnapped by Adrian Conrad's men. He'd mistakenly thought Maybourne had shot him back then but he'd since discovered it had been Simmons.

"I got more holes in my arm than a Swiss cheese's got," he griped, looking down at the swathe of bandages now covering his arm. This was the point at which Janet noticed his eyelids were getting heavy again.

"That maybe so Colonel, but you'll heal again given time. Now, I want you to go back to sleep. It's only 03.35 and the General wants to see you first thing tomorrow." She wiped the fine sheen of sweat from his forehead with a cool damp cloth, which he thought was wonderful. But then her words registered in his mind.

"Crap!" he sighed as he fell asleep yet again.

She smiled down at him, glad he had defied the odds once again. Making sure he was well asleep, she went back to her office for a cup of coffee and to put her feet up while she could. It had been a long night already, and it was far from over yet.

OoOoOoOoO

General Hammond had been along to the infirmary several times during that eventful night and throughout the next day to check up on his 2IC, as well as their top secret patient. It had been over 32 hours now since Jack had brought Maybourne in, almost dying in the process. Now he kept wondering exactly what had happened to them and who was behind it all? He tried hard to piece the jigsaw together, but it was very difficult when half the pieces were missing.

What on earth had possessed Jack to go and see the disgraced officer during those important hours when he should have been preparing to go off-world? Why had they both been shot? Who was responsible? Did it have anything to do with the NID people, who had tried to kill Jack several weeks before? All these questions kept churning round in his mind since they had arrived back at the SGC; along with the familiar concern about how his off-world teams were faring too.

Hammond found himself once more standing a silent vigil over his subordinate. Janet had already reported to him that Jack had woken briefly and was improving from the medication she had administered, and that he should be able to talk to him later in the morning when she expected him to wake up.

A few minutes later, he moved along the corridor to the isolation ward and looked in on Maybourne. It was still touch and go with him, so he was informed by the duty nurse who was watched over the undisclosed patient. Hammond sighed heavily, there were times he really hated this job. It was at times like this that he felt every year of his age. He had more than enough to fret about over his teams, without the added stresses of any 'cloak and dagger' nonsense they seemed to attract in spades.

Suddenly the soft noises of the infirmary was shattered when the Klaxons started up, and duty bound, Hammond rushed of towards the control room. Both SG-1, and SG-6 were the only teams currently off-world and weren't scheduled to return just yet. It would be too bad if anything had happened to any of them too, more so to SG-1.

OoOoOoOoO

Hammond hurried along the corridors, panting slightly by the time he had entered the control room. The Technician Sergeant seated at the desk turned slightly in his chair to face him.

"It's SG-1's IDC Sir."

"Open the Iris, and get a medical team down there, just in case there are injuries."

Davis, the senior computer technician, opened the iris and called for a medical team while the General made his way to the bottom of the ramp in expectation of possible casualties heralded by their early return.

The General smiled when he saw Jacob emerge from the wormhole, albeit unsteadily. And suddenly all the tension he'd felt about the mission dissipated instantly in the relief of seeing Jacob/Selmak standing there as large as life and relatively unharmed. He watched and waited eagerly for the others to come through as Jacob made his way down the ramp to meet him.

Seconds later, Daniel fairly flew out of the wormhole and landed in a jumbled heap on the ramp, hitting his head in the process. He was momentarily stunned by his abrupt exit and stayed down until his world had stopped spinning around him.

The next person to tumble through was Sam who also stumbled rapidly from the liquid flux. It happened so fast that she tripped over the still prone Daniel, yelping when she landed awkwardly on her wrist.

However, Teal'c emerged quite calmly, raising one eyebrow at the chaotic scene before him. General Hammond and Jacob, now they knew all the team were home, ran up the metal steps and onto the ramp in order to help Sam and Daniel to their feet. Behind them the gate shut down leaving the base safe again.

"You okay Sammy?" Jacob asked as he helped her stand.

"Yeah, I'm okay Dad thanks. I think I just sprained my wrist, that's all. I'm fine honestly."

"I'm glad to see you all back safely and relatively in one piece anyway," Hammond told them. "Get yourselves along to the infirmary and have Dr. Fraiser take a look at that wrist Major, and Dr. Jackson, you had better allow her to check that head wound of yours too. We'll debrief in two hours people." He turned to his old friend. "Jacob shall we talk in my office?"

Sam had been looking round the gate room, seeking the one person who seemed to be missing. Jack. Even to herself she didn't want to admit how disappointed she was to find him absent.

"Ah...General, has Jack returned yet?" Daniel spoke up, unconsciously voicing Sam's very thoughts, and also wondering why his friend hadn't been there to meet them on their return.

General Hammond had known they would ask that particular question as soon as they'd returned from the mission.

"Yes, he has Dr. Jackson."

"Good. That's good. Sooo...where is he? I thought he would at least have been here to meet us? To see if we made it back okay with Jacob."

"Actually..." Hammond sighed with regret, knowing he couldn't keep this from them. "...he's in the infirmary. He had been injured, but Dr. Fraiser assures me he is doing just fine."

"Injured?" Both Daniel and Sam gasped in shock. "How bad?" demanded Daniel, his face growing more pale than it was already.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you here. You'll soon be able to see for yourselves when you get down to the infirmary and get those injuries of your own taken care of."

"Yes Sir." Came the rather subdued despondent replies. Hammond and Jacob watched them hurry as fast as they were permitted through the blast door, eager to see what had happened to their team leader.

TBC


	5. Here We Go Again

_Lots of hugz for all those great reviews once again. So happy to know you're all still with me._

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

"Yes Sir." Came the rather subdued despondent replies. Hammond and Jacob watched them hurry as fast as they were permitted through the blast door, eager to see what had happened to their team leader.

Chapter 5 – Here We Go Again

Teal'c sat calmly in the chair beside Jack's bed while Sam and Daniel temporarily occupied the beds further down the ward. Janet had confirmed that Sam had only sprained her wrist but as it was a nasty one, she was applying some strapping to it. While she was busy working, she started filling them in on Jack's injuries. All three of them were shocked but knew he would be fine if Janet said so.

Daniel was still waiting to have his cut stitched, and the mood in the room was a light-hearted one, due to the fact that they were all relieved that Sam's father was found safe and well.

The good humoured bantering between the team members and Janet, petered off as soon as Teal'c announced that O'Neill was waking up.

"I'll be there in just a second Teal'c. I'm almost through here. Okay Sam?" Sam nodded and slipped from the bed to follow Janet down the ward towards Daniel.

Jack forced open his heavy eyes and blinked a few times, trying to focus on the dark shape that loomed over him. Recognition prompted his return to the world.

"Hey, Teal'c?" He was greatly relieved to see one of his team there at last.

Teal'c inclined his head slowly at Jack's greeting.

"O'Neill."

"You're back. Where're the others? They okay?"

"They are indeed here O'Neill. As are you, according to Doctor Fraiser."

Jack waived away the concern, never one to enjoy the focus on his own injuries. He didn't see anyone else around his bed, so focused on those further down the room.

"Oh for crying out loud!" he groaned, seeing Sam sitting on the side of one of the infirmary beds on which Daniel was lying, and who was being attended to by Janet. Jack also noticed that his young friend was holding a bloodied dressing over an obviously cut forehead. "What the hell happened to you two? Can't you kids stay out of trouble when I'm not around?"

"Excuse me Jack! Your a right one to talk. Who got **himself** into deep trouble when we weren't around to watch **his** butt?" Daniel yelled feeling disgruntled by Jack's uncalled for comment, and immediately regretted the loudness of his own voice. His head was still feeling delicate after hitting the ramp.

"That's a whole different kettle of fish ,Daniel," Jack retorted.

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is!"

"Not!"

"It is too!" Jack cried, wincing when he was a little over enthusiastic in his denial.

"Anyway," Daniel continued. "it's not what you think. We didn't get beaten up by Jaffa or natives or anything. This was purely...an accident," he finished softly with a flinch. Janet was now stitching the gash in his head and he went quiet, not enjoying the experience at all.

"An accident?" Jack looked puzzled at this statement and frowned up at Teal'c, raising an eyebrow hoping the Jaffa would explain it to him.

"Daniel Jackson exited the wormhole at too great a velocity, hitting his head on the ramp. Major Carter who followed, stumbled over his inert form when she too exited the wormhole at too fast a rate. Unfortunately, in her eagerness to stop her fall, she reached out with her hand only for her wrist to be damaged in the fall.

"Carter?"

"It's just a sprain sir. I'm fine."

"So, you're both keeping up the SG-1 tradition I see," Jack grinned.

Sam and Daniel exchanged ruffled glances.

"He's never going to let us forget this, you know that don't you Sam."

"I know Daniel. And he's going to be absolutely unbearable for a while."

"Okay kiddies!" Janet said, finishing her handiwork, thinking it was enough banter for one day, and cutting Jack's comment before he could utter the words. "Don't you three have a briefing to go to? The Colonel needs to rest."

"Ooops! Sorry," apologised Daniel.

"Hey, Carter, did you manage to rescue Dad okay?"

"Yes sir, we did. He's with General Hammond in the briefing room."

"You did good, Carter."

"Thank you sir."

They exchanged a little knowing smile, before Sam had to break off the contact, just as Janet reminded them that the General was waiting.

"See you later Jack."

"Sir, "

"O'Neill."

All three chorused.

"Not if I see you first!"

After the team left the room, Janet checked on Jack's IV lines, and his bandages once again.

"Hmmm! You're looking a little flushed this morning Colonel. How are you feeling!" she asked checking his temperature.

"I was all right, but isn't it a bit much to expect me to wake up and stay calm when I see two of my team in here needing medical attention?"

Janet could see that it had shaken him a bit in his weakened state. Not that he would admit to being alarmed by it in front of his team, but the result was making his pulse too rapid; and she now confirmed the fever had risen again. She shouldn't have let him get so worked up. She was going to have to warn the General to go easy on him until he was in a fit state to face the dressing down she knew he was in for.

"How's our guest doing Doc?" he asked a moment later still sounding breathless.

"Well, he's still hanging on Colonel. We won't really know how he feels until he wakes up."

"**Until**? not **if**?"

"That's right Colonel...'until'. I think he's going to be okay, but there are always complications waiting round the corner to sneak up on us unexpectedly."

"Yeah...and mine just appeared," he quipped sarcastically when General Hammond walked into the room.

Janet quickly took the General aside and whispered something to him that Jack couldn't hear. He saw Hammond nodding and turn away to walk towards Jack, looking as serious as Jack had ever seen him look. This was so not going to be good, he sighed with resignation, but he would take his punishment like the honourable officer he was, despite what it looked like on his record.

"General...I need to apologise to you about the other night. I had no idea what was going to happen. Well I did, that's why I wore the vest, but I swear I was only meant to be gone for an hour tops, sir."

"Colonel I'm not going to go into any details about your little unscheduled foray right now, that can wait until you're fully recovered. However, despite my displeasure in your behaviour, I am relieved to see you're feeling better this morning."

Jack had the grace to look suitably abashed for his thoughtless actions and what it had cost his CO to have to keep the disastrous outcome a secret.

"There is one thing I would really like to know Colonel, and that is, **why** you disobeyed a direct order and went to meet Maybourne on Monday night?"

Jack swallowed and closed his eyes against the mental pain of giving Hammond cause to doubt his dedication to the SGC and what they were doing; he could clearly read the disappointment in the older man's eyes. He took a deep shuddering breath, and although he winced when it hurt, a coward he was not, so he spoke up without further hesitation. It wouldn't be the first time Hammond had pulled him up short over something similar, and he doubted it would be the last.

"He rang me Sir. Said he was in trouble and needed help. He had something important which he needed to tell me, but wouldn't say what it was over the phone; he said I had to go meet him. Sooo...I went sir."

"You went? Knowing that I'd specifically said NO-ONE, Colonel, from SG-1 was to leave this base?" Hammond had turned a deep shade of pink and it made Jack cringe at his tone.

"Did he actually get around to telling you what was so all fired important that you had to disobey my orders?"

"No Sir, he didn't get the chance."

"Tell me, was he okay when you got there or was he already wounded?"

"We'd only just started to talk sir when he was hit. Then they got me before I could move fast enough. All he got out was that it had something to do with what Simmons' had planned before his arrest. Sort of a fail-safe plan General."

"Whoever it was, Colonel, Dr. Fraiser informed me he used a standard military issue MP-5. You're damn lucky you weren't both killed."

"Yeah," Jack sighed wretchedly. "So Doc tells me." And god, it hurt too!

"Maybourne must have had something very important to pass on, if they intended to kill him just to stop him from talking to you."

"Well if that was the case Sir, then why did I end up with five bullets and Maybourne with only two?"

General Hammond had to think about that for a moment and he didn't particularly like the only answer he could come up with.

"Then just, maybe, Jack, the real target was you again. Maybourne could have been just...an accessory...an extra bonus that, whoever was behind this, used as bait to get to you. Especially if Simmons was behind it...he doesn't give up easily it seems."

By now, Jack was feeling really tired again. He pinched the bridge of his nose wearily, and closed his eyes, as he took in the gravity of the General's statement. Supposing **he** was the real target? Was Simmons really behind it all, again? He sure was getting fed up with this whole scenario of revenge or whatever they labelled it as. He seemed to spend far more time in the infirmary these days than actually on missions.

Janet, who had been hovering at the other end of the room, could see Jack's actions and immediately interrupted them, insisting that the Colonel rested now. She wasn't shy in telling the General that they could talk again at a later date.

As Jack watched his CO leave, he couldn't help feeling desperate to know what exactly it was that Maybourne had to say to him, and how it would affect the SGC.

TBC


	6. Plots & Plans

_Hi folks, thanks as always for your reviews. Here's another chapter for you to enjoy._

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

As Jack watched his CO leave, he couldn't help feeling desperate to know what exactly it was that Maybourne had to say to him, and how it would affect the SGC.

Chapter 6 – Plots & Plans

The next day, Jack, dressed in sweat pants and tee shirt, sat on the bed and watched as Daniel pushed the wheelchair towards him. He eyed it distastefully, not wanting to admit to anyone or even himself, how weak he really felt, nor how painful it had been just getting dressed, albeit very informally.

"If someone – who shall remain nameless - would give me a pair of crutches, I could walk, Daniel. I don't need to use that...thing." He scowled both at the chair and at his friend, then glared over at the door to Janet's office even though he knew the room to be empty.

"Sorry Jack, but Janet insisted that you won't be going anywhere unless you use it," Daniel told him adamantly. "Jack...it's only been a few days, and besides, she said you'd be far too weak to walk anywhere just yet."

"Oh fer cryin; out loud! I'm fine. And I can manage," he insisted, waving it away, but Daniel stood his ground, his face set in concrete. There was no way he would give in to Jack's theatrical refusal. Daniel could see what was coming even now...

Jack ignored his friend and swung his wounded leg off the bed gingerly, and Daniel held his breath as he watched Jack cautiously stand up. He'd already expected the grimace of pain on Jack's face as he tried putting some weight on his heavily bandaged limb. And Daniel was already there, nimbly catching him as Jack stumbled forwards unable to bear any weight at all on the leg.

"Ack! Don't you dare say it, Daniel!" Jack warned his friend, wagging his index finger at Daniel out of frustration at his own frailty and having been proven to be far from recovered. Just as Janet had predicted. How could he be this weak when he'd managed to get Maybourne here when he'd been bleeding like a stuck pig at the time? It didn't make any sense at all to his way of thinking.

"I don't have to Jack. I rest my case. Just...sit in the chair. Maybourne's getting impatient, he says it's urgent."

So it was with great reluctance that Jack sat in the wheelchair and let himself be pushed along to the isolation unit to see Maybourne, who had now obviously woken up and wanted to talk to him urgently.

OoOoOoOoO

Maybourne managed to pry open his heavy eyes again as Daniel deposited Jack, actually in the wheelchair, beside his bed. Daniel looked from one to the other and shrugged when they both turned to stare at him.

"Fine. I'll be outside if you need me." Daniel then left them to it, but sat just outside the door, acting as guardian and also in case he was needed to help out in some way.

Back inside the room, Harry took in Jack's presence and cursed his luck, though he was glad that Jack had taken his advice and worn a vest. Janet had already filled him in on the details of what happened after he'd gone down.

"Jack. 'bout time," he snarked, his voice weak but steady, and there was a smirk on his lips too.

"Yeah. Well, let's not dwell on why I'm not exactly 100 at the moment."

"At least you're still with us, Jack." And as was usual, Jack ignored the reference to his own situation.

"Sooo..." Jack asked changing the subject quickly. "What was so damned urgent that we both nearly wound up dead, and will probably see me court-martialled for going AWOL, or whatever?"

"Where's SG-6 Jack?"

Jack was blindsided by the question that came seemingly out of the blue.

"What?"

"Just answer the question Jack. SG-6! Where are they?"

"Still off-world on P3X...something or other. But, what the hell has that got to do with this?"

Harry sighed and winced when it pulled at the wounds on his back.

"Okay, good. So, when are they due back?"

Jack gave up trying to fathom out what Maybourne's enquiries were leading and just answered.

"I believe about 16:30 give or take. Why?"

"What day?"

Jack's eyebrows rose as he tried to work out exactly what day is was.

"Today, I guess. If today's Thursday that is. Why?"

"Could you check that Jack?"

Jack sighed and turned to wards the closed door, yelling for Daniel. The door flew open and Daniel stood there anticipating some desperate need, but relaxed when he saw nothing amiss. He folded his arms and frowned at the grinning pair.

"What?"

"What day is it today?" Jack asked, making Daniel's jaw drop in surprise.

"Thursday Jack. It's Thursday. Anything else you want to know?"

"Nope. You can go...sit...out there if you have to. Thanks!"

Daniel glared at his friend and was muttering something in what Jack took to be Gou'ld or maybe Latin or something, but whatever it was it sure didn't sound like a compliment, as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Harry looked up at the big clock on the wall and noted with relief that the team were not due back for another hour at least; and he really hoped they wouldn't be early.

"They've been compromised Jack. Simmons's got some powerful friends and they plan to get rid of you, as I'm sure you already have guessed by now, and also General Hammond. Remember Jack? He's already tried it once before, and you barely made it through, that time."

Oh yes, Jack remembered all right. How could he forget that day in a hurry?

"So what's new?" Jack asked, and Maybourne held up his hand to stop him from interrupting. He was growing more tired now. The effort of talking for so long in his weakened state was quickly taking it's toll.

"Just shut up and listen Jack. Not sure how much longer I can keep talking. Not naming any names, but a certain senator, plans to get rid of you and Hammond and put his own men in charge of the SGC. He'll pull a few strings and get Simmons and our friendly Goa'uld out of confinement and send them safely off-world. He intends to use Simmons to run a second base, and use the knowledge from the Goa'uld to help him. 'twas his part of the deal for setting him free."

"And just how do SG-6 come into this 'paradoxical' equation?"

"Simmons has some kind of strangle hold over Harris, some bodged job or something that Simmons cleared up for him. Harris and Lt. Brown intend to dispose of Bates and Hughes, on P3X 892. Knowing that the General will be waiting, as he always does, at the base of the ramp when they gate home, they intend to spray the gate room with bullets when they exit the wormhole. Even though they know they won't survive the experience, they're hoping to take Hammond and half the gate room down with them. Reckons the inquiry would put it all down to a Goa'uld mind control tragedy thing. So no questions would be asked, just hushed up like any other deaths down here are."

"And how would they explain about my death? How would they hush that up, when it was plain to everyone they had already tried to get rid of me?"

"Come on Jack, it may well come as a bit of a shock to you, but you have made a few enemies over the years, so no-one is going to be surprised by a little revenge thing are they?"

Jack knew this to be true, he had stepped on lots of toes, so no big surprise there.

Maybourne was drifting off again, but Jack kept him talking for a little while longer. He had to know if there was anything else he should be telling him.

"C'mon Harry! Stay with me here. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

"Don't know...an'thin' else...gotta stop...Ham'nd..." Harry was exhausted and could no longer stay awake, easily slipping back into the arms of Morpheus once again.

Jack looked up at the clock, SG-6 were due back any time now. With adrenaline now pumping fiercely through his veins, and spurred on by his concern for the General; he leapt out straight out of the wheelchair, forgetting all about how much his injured leg hurt, limping over to the door. He surprised the hell out of Daniel - who was still sitting outside in the corridor waiting to take him back to his bed - by hobbling as quickly as possible right passed him towards the gate room ready for action.

"Jack?" Daniel questioned, getting to his feet in stunned surprise to follow his friend. "Janet said..."

"Not now Daniel," Jack called out, still hurrying as fast as he could down the hallway. "Go and get Carter and Teal'c. Tell them to meet me in the gate room, with Zats. NOW Daniel."

Daniel stopped in his tracts and repeated his earlier question, wondering what was going on. His eyes followed every move Jack made, watching him closely, as he also discarded the sling without a thought. Wondering what on earth Janet was going to say when she found Jack missing from the infirmary, minus the wheelchair, and now his sling - and who was charging towards the gate room for some unknown reason.

"Daniel! Just go!"

The yell from his friend, before he disappeared into the elevator, snapped him from his stupefaction and he hurried away to find the rest of his team.

OoOoOoOoO

General Hammond walked to the bottom of the ramp to greet the incoming team as was his usual practice.

Seemingly endless minutes passed before the rippling wormhole gave up the first member of SG-6, Major Harris, the team leader.

Harris staggered slightly as he landed on the ramp until the dizzying ride through the vortex had settled. He quickly surveyed the personnel around the room, checking on who and where the guards where. Standing there for a few brief moments, he noticed with enormous pleasure, that General Hammond was standing in his customary place, and nodded down at the General in greeting. All he needed to do now was wait for Lt. Brown to come through too, and then they could follow their orders.

TBC


	7. He Demotes MeHe Demotes Me Not

_Well folks, thanks for all your reviews as always._

_Here's the final chapter for you to enjoy._

"If At First You Don't Succeed..."

by Lingren.

_Previously:-_

Harris staggered slightly as he landed on the ramp until the dizzying ride through the vortex had settled. He quickly surveyed the personnel around the room, checking on who and where the guards where. Standing there for a few brief moments, he noticed with enormous pleasure, that General Hammond was standing in his customary place, and nodded down at the General in greeting. All he needed to do now was wait for Lt. Brown to come through too, and then they could follow their orders.

Chapter 7 – He Demotes Me – He Demotes Me Not...

Jack had already heard the klaxons blaring out a warning that there was an incoming wormhole. He first ran into the control room first to see who it was that had activated the Stargate. He leaned slightly on the back of the Sergeant's chair, feeling breathless but buoyed by the urgency of the situation.

"Who's knocking on the door?" he demanded, seeing the General stepping up to the end of the ramp, ready to greet the team.

"It's SG-6 Sir." Davis turned and looked up at the Colonel, but only caught sight of the back of him as Jack disappeared down the stairs awkwardly, yelling over his shoulder as he went.

"Sergeant, get a medical team to the gate room ASAP." He was running on pure adrenaline now, his previous injuries just didn't exist, so focused as he was on stopping General Hammond from getting killed.

OoOoOoOoO

Harris glanced behind him at the wormhole, and saw the tell-tale ripples form as Brown emerged. With a quick nod to each other, and in the blink of an eye, he turned towards Hammond and the guards and opened fire, spraying the gate-room with bullets.

At that precise point in time Jack practically flew into the gate room in a tackling dive that would have made any football fan into rapturous applause. He reached the General, bringing him down just as Brown emerged shooting at everyone and everything, knocking his CO clear of the volley of shots aimed straight at him and the surprised SF's on guard duty.

General Hammond suddenly found himself lying on the floor, having had the breath knocked out of him. For several seconds he wondered what had happened, feeling shocked at first, and momentarily confused by what was going on when the room erupted into a gunfight.

With bullets flying around the room, he was quick to realise the situation and stayed well down, covered partially by the base of the ramp and also by the body of the person who had without a doubt saved his life, he felt relatively safe if not entirely relieved.

Stunned at seeing their CO and his 2IC fall along with a few of their colleagues under the unexpected barrage of gunfire, the guards reacted swiftly. Confusion reigned during the ensuing gun-battle, which in reality, barely lasted a few minutes, but which had seemed to all those watching to last a lifetime.

There was a shout of 'cease-fire' amid the rumpus, but the SF's had already done their job when the rest of SG-1 entered they fray and took over the responsibilities. Both Harris' and Brown's bodies lay dead on the ramp, riddled with bullets. As Sam nor Daniel or Teal'c had any idea what had sparked this frenzy off, they approached cautiously, making sure that the two men would not cause any further problems should they have been compromised by a Goa'uld symbiote.

There were several of the SFs who had been felled too, and now the medical teams had rushed into the room on Teal'c's okay they headed straight to the wounded.

The staff watching from the control room, had gasped in horror at the events taking place, especially when Jack and the General went down. They weren't sure whether they had been wounded or not. Now Davis and his co-workers stood gaping out of the window on the scene below in sheer disbelief.

Still feeling stunned by the carnage around them Sam and Daniel soon spotted the General rising shakily to his feet, still in shock as he looked around him. The two team-mates rushed over to help their Commander and to see if he was okay, but he fended them off, saying he was fine.

Janet and a team of medics had already begun treating the wounded, and when she saw that the General was relatively unharmed, she sent a silent prayer of thank skywards and turned back to her patients.

Jack was still lying face down on the floor, so far ignored in the after math, but now he couldn't help the soft moan that escaped. His previous wounds were now hurting like the very devil.

"Jack! Are you okay?" asked Daniel, bringing his scattered thoughts back on track.

"Oh God! I'm getting way too old for this kinda crap." Jack felt utterly exhausted now the crisis was over and the adrenaline rush gone now. He hurt just about everywhere he could think of and other places he shouldn't. He knew even without looking that he had opened up his leg wound again and Janet was so gonna kill him.

Sam couldn't help the smirk that rose on her lips at Jack's comment, and the General looked on in amusement too. He was just grateful for Jack's quick intervention despite his previous injuries; and yet even hurting, he had still managed to save his life. The man had proved himself to be a worth ally even in the face of impending disciplinary actions against him. Hammond could only shake his head and his hand once he was back on his feet.

"Come on Jack. Let's get you up. Give me your hand." Daniel, mindful of Jack's sore leg and arm, offered to help him stand up and at least help him back to the infirmary where Janet would probably bring out those huge needles to use on him for escaping her domain.

Jack looked up at him, pain lines clearly stood out across his pale features, and shook his head.

"Don't take this the wrong way Daniel, but I think you'd better get Doc over here. I think she'll need to take a look at me again."

"Yeah well, you've probably opened up that leg wound of yours," declared Daniel unsympathetically. "What with all that rushing around on it. Janet's going to be so mad at you; **and** with **me**, for letting you do it," he added while the General called Janet's attention and beckoned her over.

"While my leg is hurting Daniel, that's not my immediate problem right now..." he winced, trying unsuccessfully to roll over onto his back. He pressed his lips together, knowing it wasn't going to be pretty. "I think I got shot again!"

Jack looked down at his hand as he pulled it away from his side and revealed it soaked with blood. He sighed heavily and laid his head wearily, back onto the floor.

"What?" cried his friends, before they saw his bloodstained hand appear, and the full implications of his actions hit home.

"Why didn't you say something, Jack?" cried Daniel, throwing his arms in the air and quickly dropping to his knees beside him, to help Janet who was immediately there too.

"I thought I just did," he groaned with fresh pain as Janet gently prodded the area.

OoOoOoOoO

The moment Sam had left the infirmary, when the General arrived, she had gone to see Daniel in his lab, to tell him that the General was now about to have 'that talk' with the Colonel. She found Teal'c was already there, helping Daniel with a Goa'uld translation, so they all sat down to ponder over what the possible repercussions were going to be, and how it would affect the team, let alone the SGC.

They were really worried how the General would handle any disciplinary action because of Jack disobeying his orders, though General Hammond had already informed them of the events that had caused Jack to ignore his orders and go to meet Maybourne. The there was that whole thing about getting himself shot and almost dying in the process of finding help for him. Between them, they weighed what the possibilities were, as far as they could see it.

The biggest question bugging them, was whether it would be possible for Jack to remain as their CO? Or not. Then there was the added complication, that perhaps things changed because he'd gone all out and saved the General's life. The telephone rang, interrupting their ruminations, and Daniel answered it reluctantly.

"Janet? Yeah. Okay...thanks. Be right there." Putting the phone back on it's cradle, he sucked in a huge breath and relayed to them that the General had gone back to his office and Jack had asked to see them all.

They all looked at each other, dreading what news their CO would have to tell them. Silently, each wrapped up in their own thoughts, they trudged to the infirmary to see Jack, hoping that it would be good news.

OoOoOoOoO

The minute they walked into the room, Jack could see by their glum faces that they were expecting bad news. Sam was pale, and looked as if she would cry at any minute. Daniel was chewing on his bottom lip and was unable to maintain eye contact with him, and Teal'c, well, the big guy was looking more aloof that ever, but that in itself told Jack everything he needed to know about how his warrior brother was concerned about what was going to happen. Jack's delight at seeing his team rapidly turned his features sombre.

"Hi Guys!" he moped, trying to play along with their morose mood.

"Hi Jack. So, what did the General finally decide?" asked Daniel, feeling it was his place to ask the burning question.

"Weeellll. First off, he...thanked me for saving his butt."

"And then?"

"What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?"

"The good news Sir." Sam pleaded, hoping against hope that she wasn't going to lose him as leader. "Has the General made up his mind yet, Colonel?"

"Okay, so, good news first. Yes he has."

"Has what?" Daniel wanted to know as he was sure Sam and Teal'c did too.

"Oh... The good news is…that he has forgiven..." He paused, chewing on his lip as he saw three faces full of tension, hanging onto his words as they waited for his answer. "...Maybourne for his part in my downfall!"

"Jack!" Daniel practically growled in frustration. "What else did he say?"

"About what, Daniel?" He was so enjoying this, winding them all up.

"Jack!"

"Well, when I eventually get out of here, I get to go fishing." Jack knew without a doubt that that little piece of information would make them jump to all the wrong conclusions.

"Oh!" Sam and Daniel looked at each other, but couldn't bring themselves to look down at Jack.

After several silent minutes, which Jack was enjoying their obvious discomfort, Sam forced the lump in her throat away to put another searching question to her superior.

"What...what was the bad news Sir?" Sam now believed that the General had forced him into retirement once again, so breaking SG-1 up forever.

"The bad news?" Jack feigned memory loss until Daniel glared at him. "Oh! that."

"Come on Jack, out with it. What did he have to say?"

"The bad news really concerns you kids, not so much me.' He drew out the sentence as long as he dared, seeing the disappointment growing on their faces. "Well, you...all of you, get to...keep me as your CO." He looked at them in turn, their emotions in turmoil before what he had said, had finally sunk in, and eyes widen in surprise.

"You did that on purpose Jack, just to make us think the worst. Jack you're such a B..." Daniel glowered with a pout. He folded his arms across his chest, mainly to stop himself from hitting the man he called his friend.

"Ack! Daniel. Not in front of the Major," he laughed, quickly interrupting his friend from completing the sentence.

Now they all laughed together, thankfully relieved that Jack was going to stay with them.

"So, c'mon Jack. What did the General really say?" Daniel asked, trying to get Jack to open up and tell them everything.

"Actually, he said that, because I did it to save his butt as well as the fate of the SGC, that he would be able to ignore the regulations this time around. So, we can carry on as we are kids. He also said something about not wanting to split up his best team. Then he had to go finish a report he was rather loathe to write, and made some reference to having a big honkin' headache to deal with."

"Yeah. I can understand that. It's probably the one sitting right there in that bed," quipped Daniel pointing straight at Jack.

"Good, that's settled then. Daniel, Doc says I can get out of here next week, so pack a bag and be ready for our trip."

"Trip? What trip might that be Jack?" asked Daniel wondering what he had missed.

"Fishing Daniel. You just earned yourself a fishing trip."

"Jack! I am not going on any fishing trip. With or without you!"

"Oh yes you are Daniel. I'm your CO, and you have to follow my orders."

"Jack! Would you just listen to yourself! You are the proverbial 'Pot calling the Kettle black!'"

Sam couldn't help laugh at the pair of them. It was really good to hear them joking together again, and she was more than happy to find herself working with Jack still, even though it kept them from wanting to pursue anything further in their relationship. However, leaving it in that room, meant that whatever happened, it kept their hope alive.

Jack was more than thankful that he had managed to survive another attempt on his life, so maybe now they would give up and leave him alone, especially now the President had taken a real interest in all the double dealings that were going on under his very nose, and was investigating those involved. Who knew what would come of it, maybe there was even a pardon for Maybourne?

Teal'c was naturally at a loss at the humour of his two colleagues, and merely raised an eyebrow at the exchange. Wondering if he would ever really understand the Tau'ri sense of humour. He only knew one thing apart from the fact that they would all live to fight together another day; but what had pleased him greatly was that it was Daniel going fishing with O'Neill and not himself.

The End.

_Now this is finished, please let me know if you have any specific request for one of my older stories to be posted on here. I would like to know so that I can start on updating and editing it for this site._

_Thanks again! I always appreciate your comments and would like to know if you are enjoying reading these 'oldies'._

_And for those of you who have asked, I am in the process of writing a new story, but it is still a long way from ready to be posted as yet. I'll let you all know when that time draws nearer._


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